In Keeping Secrets of Torn Hyrule
by Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth
Summary: In the climactic battle with Ganon, Link falls, but the few who try to revive him witness his rebirth as a warlord known as The Crowing, a figure who soon will haunt the dreams of the evil. Ugh, sorry about lack of updates... this isn't even one.
1. The Crowing

**In Keeping Secrets of Torn Hyrule**

Begins with an alternate ending to OoT. Link dies by the monstrous claw of Ganon, and nearly all fall with him. However, a few hold out and recover his body, and witness his rebirth as a warlord known as The Crowing.

Most of the chapters will be songfics set to different tunes by Coheed and Cambria. I highly recommend listening to them before, after, or while you read. Or all three. The only trouble with this song's lyrics is that there are specific references to characters in the story told by the song, so I'm changing them a little. The actual song quote is in parentheses.

Text like this is the story.

**_Text like this is the song. (This shows the real quote when it's changed for the story.)_**

**_

* * *

_**

**Chapter 1: The Crowing**

_Just a little further!_ Link thought desperately as the incredible monster turned its tail toward him. His arm muscles were nearly giving out under the weight of his shield, and the Master Sword hung almost limp in his left hand. Link had been drained by battle upon battle upon battle, until this final escape, and his fight was beginning to leave him.

**_I fed the clues of a lost day killed in motion  
But I thought of it so like, there's no other way it could've been done_**

The fleshy side of Ganon's tail drew close enough, and Link nimbly threw himself to the side, jabbing out with his blade. He left a long incision in the tail, and Ganon roared, turning to face him again.

**_Will they size my fit for a puzzle? I wish not to play a part in it  
A heart stained in hate; a feeling of fear will play circles_**

A burst of warm blood gushed out of Link's side as Ganon's claw left a long incision. He staggered to his side, trying to keep the wound from bleeding too badly with his hand and struggling to stay upright. His vision was somewhat blurred, and amongst all the red he thought for a second that he could see a shock of fiery hair, belonging to a farm girl whom he had loved.

**_But you… you were my favorite  
But you, you know, you were my favorite_**

Link's hand was soaked in blood from his own insides. He was beginning to feel lightheaded. It almost seemed easier to die; there were so many more people who could kill the beast. He was finished, an empty vessel…

And yet he had the strangest premonition that someday, somehow, he would finish the job, even if it were from beyond the grave.

**_I severed my ties to shroud my body under the streets of this city  
And wait for the day when I am summoned to walk across the face  
Well, slowly but clearer now, in visions that play and plague memories…  
I loved them all as son should to mother and father_**

But you… you were my favorite  
But you, you know, you were my favorite

Link's body felt too heavy for his legs to support. He slowly sank down, lying on his side with his eyes unfocused.

**_Would I walk through the door, shedding the light of all life?_**  
_**With the rise and reform, would I come as before?**_

**_Pray you're not the only one  
Pray you're not the only…_**

Vague thoughts drifted on the currents of Link's mind. Where had it gone wrong? This wasn't how it should have ended. This wasn't how it was foretold.

**_If given mistakes, would I take them back?  
If erasing them could, if erasing them would…_**

****

But perhaps this was right. Link wished now to die, for he knew with the certainty of a man whose vision is unhindered by desire to live, that this was the right choice.

**_But would they be the words that I would say?_**  
**_Your face, and a door between_**

He felt a sudden pang of regret as again he remembered Zelda, his protector and friend, and Malon, the farm girl that he had fallen deeply in love with over the months (or years, to others) of his journey. He had been so bound to them, it was as if he existed in three parts; one for his love for Malon, one for his gratitude and friendship to Zelda, and only one for himself.

**_I've parted three ways_**  
_**For you, the Malon that I love. (For you, the Newo that I love.)**_

Link felt, looking back, that he knew now more than ever that there had been no hope for him in the state he had been in. How could a single boy in his late teens, with a girl the same age, hope to destroy the king of all evil? What a coward he had truthfully been, hiding behind the power of the Sages in hopes that they would destroy the king for him.

**_Did you ever really know before my face shamed to break?_**  
_**Did you ever really know before my mind scared to think?**_  
**_Did you ever really know before my name son to these?  
Did you, did you, did you come clean in the end from the start?_**

Link saw Zelda, standing hopelessly beyond the walls of flame, watching and crying as the Hero died before her eyes. All hope was lost to her, and she had failed in what she was sworn to do.

**_Dear Princess Zelda, the Sages wish you to watch over me. (Dear Ambellina, the Prise wishes you to watch over me.)_**  
_**Dear Princess Zelda, the Sages wish all to watch over me. (Dear Ambellina, the Prise wishes all to watch over me.)**_

Link would die; he knew that for sure. But his time was unfinished. There was something in the future ahead for him. And as he saw the maniacal grin of triumph on the face of the piglike beast Ganon, he knew that retribution would fly on the wings of fate for him.

**_I fought the decisions that call and lost_**  
_**My mark has the relevant piece in this,  
I will come reformed!**_

****

Such a wave of hatred swept over Link that for a moment, he nearly felt able to get back on his feet and stab the monster. But although the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak, and his broken body could not move. Link swore that from beyond death if necessary, he would annihilate the King of Thieves, and take vengeance for all he had done to the land. Ganon would die.

**_In short, for the murders of those I court,_**  
_**I bless the hour that holds your fall:  
****I will kill you all!**_

Link's soul was finally and utterly torn from his body as Ganon crushed it with a massive foot. He faded from life as the seven Sages looked on in despair from their vantage point beyond time and space.

But Link had set his own future. Ganon would die. He would die brutally, horribly, however he must.

**_I will call you_**  
_**Out from shelter  
Burn your wings and**_  
**_Burn the core_**

**_

* * *

_**

**End of Chapter 1**

There we go. Pretty freakin' sweet eh?


	2. Junesong Provision

**In Keeping Secrets of Torn Hyrule**

So here we go. Hope you liked chapter 1 even though ONE PERSON FREAKING REVIEWED. Good job showing your support, people.

Same drill as last chapter. Set to the song Junesong Provision. Again with the lyrics slightly changed and edited. And I know it sounds way too much like the story, but these are based on a real song. Look up the lyrics and check out the similarities if still ye are doubting.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Junesong Provision**

Malon and the few who remained with her on the ranch had recovered Link's battered and torn body. The Triforce, they hoped, hadn't left it yet, and when it did they would be waiting to see what happened.

Malon gazed at the body before her, helped into the loft of the stable. The others had all but given up on the chance of a miracle occurring, even to this miraculous boy.

**_Good morning sunshine, awake when the sun hits the sky  
Look up, the sounds that surround the day you died_****_  
She waits for me outside near a hole in the ground  
In this one way thinking you might get the upper hand_**

She wished to the Goddesses that she had spent one more day with him, convinced him not to go yet. They had all known, deep inside, that the King of Evil had been too powerful.

Link's face still wore his deathly grimace. Malon longed for the eyes to open and the mouth to speak to her. Without Link, what else was there to save them? He had been the last hope of the entire world.

**_Oh my dear Malon, how's Epona been treating you?  
Has she been a good girl since the day I left?_**  
_**Give her my love and a sweet kiss for her head  
'Cause I'm not coming home, when you read this I'll be dead**_

After hours of watching the body in silence, Malon sadly climbed down the ladder to the ground floor of the loft and opened the door. Before closing it, she looked one more time at the loft. Then she pulled the door shut and walked away, willing herself for the hundredth time not to cry.

**_I think you better take my hand and_**  
_**Pray we make this one out alive**_  
**_And now we've lost all hope for victory_**  
**_Well then I'll see you in my sleep_**

Much later that night, when Malon was wishing that sleep would come and let her escape the world of physical feeling, a golden piece of the Triforce of Power glowed on the back of Link's scarred hand. The triangle, endowed with the power of the Goddesses, slowly began to do its magic work on the boy whose future was still in motion.

**_Is it all you've shared with them that makes us paranoid?  
Is it the dream that one day you might be something you're not?  
Is it all you've shared with them that makes us paranoid?_**  
**_Is it the dreams that make us real?_**

Slowly, away from everyone, shreds of life returned to what had been a dead shell. But the body was unfit for the spirit to live in. The goddesses poured their power into the magic of the Triforce as slowly, it changed and reconstructed the house that Link's soul would live in.

**_We'll miss you and wait for you when you come_**  
_**Wrong way, right way, bad luck, what God has been giving me**_  
**_We'll miss you and wait for you when you come_**  
**_Wrong way, right way, bad luck, you've gotta be kidding me_**

The pigments that colored Link's hair vanished, leaving it a silvery white. Warrior's paint enshrouded his face. The body was perfectly fit, and covered by light yet incredibly strong and flexible armor, worn as he would a tunic and pants.

What resulted was only just recognizable as Link. But while the body was complete, the restoration of the spirit would take some time.

Malon, still oblivious of what was happening, gazed out the dark window to the sliver of Lake Hylia that she could see. Clouds obscured the sky, and there was nothing for the water to reflect. But its shimmering clearness was visible.

It looked so peaceful. Malon wondered how parts of the world could remain so beautiful. She supposed it was because all was being destroyed from the inside out.

Malon didn't know how much longer she could go on. Her heart was beating slower and slower each time she thought of Link lying there.

**_I've spent so long sitting down here_**  
_**Paper cut my heart in half and discard the evidence**_  
**_When it's yours come send me the last half_**  
_**Doused in kerosene in a torched blazed bloodbath**_

Eventually, the hour overtook the mind and Malon's eyes shut. Her sleep was not peaceful, and although she would not remember her sad dreams of the past when she awoke, she would feel the cold tears drying on her pillow.

**_When boy sets fire, God knows you've lost  
At a cost that has no price when you've purchased guilt_**  
_**Stand at attention, make sure you know your lines and yourself**_  
**_Yet you say I'll be home alone again waiting_**

A vision of a boy in green floated to the surface of Malon's unconscious mind and her body shook gently.

**_Wait for me all night, I'm still a boy down there_**

Life began gathering at the edges of Link's body. Slowly, his future would be fulfilled.

**_When you want to promise me that…_**

Hopefully you guys actually like this one enough to REVIEW.


	3. The Rise and Reform

**In Keeping Secrets of Torn Hyrule**

No songfic on this one. I've decided to try and wean myself off that for two reasons. Number one, because I imagine that to those who do not follow or appreciate Coheed and Cambria, the lyrics are little more than a distraction. Second, it's actually a good writing exercise for me, because I don't rely on a storyline for the chapter dictated by the lyrics. It's stretching my creativity and imagery skills to write this. Although that may be a little boasting, because many people have never done a songfic in their lives and write just fine.

ANYway. On to the chapter.

Chapter 3: The Rise and Reform 

There were perhaps four hours to go before dawn spilled its scarlet light over Hyrule's eastern horizon. The goddesses finished their fateful work and departed once again for the realm that only they knew.

Sweet wakefulness and life caressed the face of a man sitting in the loft of a barn. He awoke to their gentle touch and allowed his eyes to swim into focus as his body remembered how to use them. Testing his limbs and flexibility, he sat up and stretched out. He felt lithe and sinewy, and his joints were smooth. He could bend halfway over backwards, and he felt a hidden strength pulsing in his muscles. He pushed himself off the floor with one arm and slid down the ladder to the floor, gripping it only by his knees to test himself.

The hard soles of his tough boots smacked on the stone floor as he remembered how to control his weight while walking. He pulled open the door as residual memories began to gather. He was at a ranch. He had fallen in battle, slain by an evil… thing. He had come reborn as deep inside he had known he would. His name… what was his name?

He could remember the names of others. Zelda, his protector. Ganon his enemy. Malon, his love. Were the two women still among the living? Had Ganon's claw reached even them now?

The man's feet carried him out of the ranch through the desolate fields. Ghostly eyes watched him, but did not dare to approach to taunt this man as they normally would.

He stood on a precipice that overlooked a westward flowing river. Only the faintest hint of light was whispering through the sky, painting it navy blue.

The man turned and looked over the land that he knew again as Hyrule. The signs of destruction were everywhere. Fire was still visible over a small town far to the west. Liquid rage began to bubble and burn in the pit of the man's stomach, spreading to his mind, which was working still at lightning speed to recover the details of his life.

The anger forced its way up his chest into his throat. Unable to contain it, he threw back his head, opened his mouth and let fly an unearthly sound. It was a high-pitched scream that told of no terror, only fury. It was unlike any shout made by other men. It was the sound of a bird of prey on the hunt, mixed with the primal shout of an ancient being chasing an animal.

As the crowing sound echoed off the mountain and forest walls of Hyrule Field, crows across the grassland suddenly awoke from sleep, turning their heads to point their beaks in the direction of the sound. One by one they took off, hovering on their wings and soaring over thermal updrafts until they reached the man clad in flexible armor. They gathered at his feet, looking unblinkingly up at his face.

He smiled. He had called, and his new faithful soldiers had come.

He was a man reborn, whose footsteps would soon cause an earthquake of panic in the homes of those who opposed them. He would be known by his unique battle cry.

He would be called The Crowing.

Halfway across the field, back in the confines of Lon Lon Ranch, the crowing of the risen hero echoed off walls and into windows until it hit the ears of a beautiful red-haired woman with the force of a truncheon being smashed into her head. She sat bolt upright and stared at the open window, gasping to make her air flow catch up with her racing heart.

Cautiously, as if the sound had been the touch of a beast and she was afraid of its presence in the room, Malon swung her legs over the bed and stood up. She crept to the door, realizing how useless this would be if the cry had wakened her father Talon (Ingo, exposed as a traitor long before, had fled to Ikana Canyon, on the eastern outskirts of Termina to the southeast). Silently she padded down the stairs and out the front door to the barn. Once inside and not having to worry about sound, she dashed to the ladder to the loft and hurled herself up it. The bed of straw Link had been in was empty.

Malon performed the three-pointed equivalent of crossing herself for the Triforce and uttered a quick oath to the Goddesses. She slid back down the ladder and was about to open the wooden door when it swung open itself, knocking her backward. She scrambled to stay on her feet but fell, barely checking her fall on her hands. Quickly, Malon got back to her feet and stood behind the door, ready to throw a punch if someone came through.

There was a blur of motion and suddenly there was a man behind Malon, grasping her arms with one arm so she could not struggle and holding the other arm tight around her throat, threatening to choke her. She kicked backward at the man's shin, but her foot only met a hard armor.

"…Mal… Malon?"

The words were spoken slowly and with a trudging quality, as if the speaker were unused to articulating sounds and only recently figuring out how. She turned her head and the arm at her throat loosened.

When her eyes met those of her captor, she gasped and suddenly fell to crying, turning and tightly embracing the man. Her convulsions jolted his body as well and he gently returned her hug, running one hand down her fiery mane.

After a few minutes, Link heard Malon's breathing soften and the gentle sound of her tears hitting the stone floor ceased. Her voice was still hoarse as she whispered to him,

"I thought I lost you."

Link's control over his tongue and throat was nearly back to normal as he spoke. "I'm here."

Malon looked into his face again. It was of the same shape, somehow childlike, yet now with a cruel slash of a mouth and eyes that appeared to glow white. The features softened into a content expression as he looked into her eyes.

"You're different," she said in a tone as if she were commenting on the weather.

"It's the price I had to pay."

She smiled weakly, and in doing so allowed him to return one. Standing a little taller, she kissed him on the cheek. He almost recoiled as if he had forgotten what the kiss was, then regained control.

She hugged him tighter, and for a while they stood there together, a wall against the flood of evil that Ganon had brought into the land.

**End of Chapter 3**

Ahhh yes. Joy. I'm done. Now back to schoolwork.


	4. The Dreams That Make Us Real

**In Keeping Secrets of Torn Hyrule**

Before I begin this part, I recommend that you all check out A Broken Hero, by Arvel. Under the Zelda section. Careful, though, it's rated M.

That said. I apologize if the updates seem few and far between. I have little explanation, other than that school blows. Still, that's not so much of an excuse other than that I have a busy social life lately. Bet you never thought you'd hear THAT from a FFnet author.

Mean jokes aside, I'm still trying to work on this. However, the brain is a bit worn out with songwriting, paper writing, and the like. Just keep in mind, it's not my duty to be posting this, it's your privilege to be reading it, to slightly misquote Maddox of http/www.maddox. also known as The Best Site in the Universe.

Anyway, on with chapter 4.

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Dreams That Make Us Real**

_Ganondorf strung his gigantic bow and nocked an arrow, gazing down the pine shaft. But the movement that had caught his eye was only a bird. _Hardly worth the arrow,_ Ganon thought as he pierced the bird's head. He began to turn when he saw another black bird sitting just feet away from him on the castle walls. Ignoring this one, he turned around and began to walk back in the door._

_At least twenty of the same birds were standing in front of the doorway, not doing much to actually block his way but definitely arousing his interest._

_Ganondorf bent down and picked up one of the birds by the claws, bringing it up to eye level, although not close enough that it could scratch his face. It had no strange markings that would distinguish it from any other bird that happened to be in the area._

_A sudden premonition made Ganondorf turn around and look at the bird he had shot._

_The body and the arrow were gone. In their place was a human figure standing completely still and staring up at Ganondorf._

_He turned and ran, not caring if he stepped on the birds, and spoke the incantation that would seal the locks to the castle. The very gaze of the figure he had seen had sent waves of fear through him. He dashed back out to the balcony and looked again._

_The man was gone. _

_Ganondorf turned around, right into the sharp tip of an enormous blade. He convulsively backed up a couple steps, staring along the sword to the armor-clad figure in front of him. Clenching his right hand, he drew on the dark magic energy around him, preparing to release it. The man drew his sword back and raised it into a defensive position—_

"GAH!" Ganondorf's leg twitched in his sleep, pulling him out of the dream. He had kicked most of the covers off himself.

He sat up and looked around, waiting for his vision to adjust to the dark. His heartbeat slowed down gradually until he was breathing normally. His thoughts were swimming into each other, and he could barely keep a train of thought.

The nightmare was all but lost to him as he once again lapsed into sleep.

Across Hyrule, the man in Ganondorf's dream was making love to a red-haired farm girl. They shared no nightmares as the night wandered on into the next day.

When Malon awoke, she was very surprised to find that Link was still beside her. By the way the last few days had gone, she had expected all this to be a dream. But his sleeping form was still nestled tightly with her. She kissed him gently on the forehead before getting up and dressing.

As she began to tend the horses, Malon felt happier than she had in years. No matter what was going on in Hyrule out there, life was perfect for the time being in her little world of the ranch. And besides, whatever _was_ going on in Hyrule out there would probably come to an end soon.

She sighed happily, looking up at the slightly-less-clouded sky. The tide was turning. She could feel it.

She also felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Any time before the past few days she would have jumped, but the pure strength and warmth radiating from the hand told her who it was. She smiled without looking around. "'Morning."

Link kissed the top of her head. "'Morning to you too. How's Epona been doing?"

"She's fine. Been missing you, though." Malon stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Epona came dashing over to the two of them, slowing down and nuzzling Link as she got closer.

Link couldn't help grinning as he stroked her mane. "I could tell."

Malon continued brushing down another horse, until eventually she realized that Link was purposely being silent. She turned and looked at him. His head was pointed high in the air. "What is it?"

"Something smells like… something burning." He looked down at her. "Cover your ears."

Link called out in an ethereal voice to the crows that followed him. But instead of approaching him, they instantly took off, heading in a single direction.

Link quickly rested his hand on Malon's shoulder again. "I'll be back." He flung himself onto Epona's back and charged out of the gates, following the birds.

Malon watched as they left, wondering what had happened so suddenly to disturb the first day of peace since her father had fallen asleep at the castle so long ago.

* * *

**End of Chapter 4**

FINALLY, I finished another chapter. God, I can't wait until spring break.

Review please!


	5. Not a real chapter!

This isn't a real chapter. I can't remember if it's against guidelines to do this or not; if it is I'm sorry. I'm just letting y'all know that there SHOULD have been a chapter 5 up long ago, but my computer got stolen. As such, this story is going on a bit of a hiatus, because I'm using my VERY limited time on another computer to work on a StarFox one. Read it if you like. Also, go play Minish Cap.

Keeping Secrets


End file.
